


The Service of Our Love

by Morvith



Series: Hey falcons [3]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, BAMF Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Betrayal, Dad!Booker, Dark Past, Explosions, Explosives, F/F, Gun Violence, Hostage Situations, Kidnapping, M/M, Murder, Murder-Suicide, Past Child Abuse, Raised by The Team AU, Self-Sacrifice, Suicide Pact
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:14:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29967609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morvith/pseuds/Morvith
Summary: AU ofWith this wind blowing, and this tideIn 1993, Booker still unexpectedly found six-year-old Yusuf and three-year-old Nicky being kept prisoner in a basement and killed the man responsible. He, Andy and Quýnh grew attached to the two boys and, not trusting the system, decided to raise them themselves.In 2019, a new immortal still rises, Andy still goes to retrieve to Corporal Nile Freeman and the family still has an appointment outside Paris.This time, though, Copley came up with a different plan.Where's Joe?
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: Hey falcons [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095638
Comments: 10
Kudos: 45





	The Service of Our Love

**Author's Note:**

> I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,  
> Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;  
> The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,  
> That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;  
> The love that never falters, the love that pays the price  
> The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice 
> 
> ([I vow to thee my country](https://morvith.tumblr.com/post/645308226407153664/i-vow-to-thee-my-country) – words by Sir Cecil Spring Rice, music by Gustav Holst)

“ _Are we doing this? Are we really doing this?”_

_He remembers leaning his head against Yusuf's shoulder, watching the waves gently crash against the shore. “We could do some good.”_

“ _True.” Yusuf's chest rising as he breathed in deeply. “But it will be dangerous. We could die. Or you could get hurt.”_

“ _ **We** could get hurt.”_

“ _That's different. I don't care if it's me, but I can't stand to see you hurt, Nico. I never could. If something happened to you...I couldn't live without you” Some would call it an exaggeration, or melodramatic, or a red flag. Their therapists called it a sign of codependency, but for them it's simply the truth._

“ _Neither could I.” He had been too scared to look at him, so he kept his eyes on the rolling sea, on the moon that shone above it. “It scares me sometimes, what I'd do for you. How far I'd go.”_

_He remembers thinking that Yusuf was his anchor, his life and if there really was something wrong with him for feeling so, he never wanted to fix it._

  
  


The church door opens, forcibly dragging him away from his memories – or perhaps he dozed a little. The past days have been difficult.

  
  


He stands as Quýnh comes in, smiling and full of energy. She throws her arms around his neck and kisses him on both cheeks. “Nicky! Where's Joe?”

  
  


He gives himself a moment to bask in her hug. “He just left to get groceries. Didn't you see him?”

  
  


She shakes her head. “He must have gone around the back. You look tired.” An impish grin. “Have you been fooling around?”

  
  


“Nobody says fooling around anymore.”

  
  


She tosses her hair over her shoulder. “I do and I'm clearly not nobody.”

  
  


Nicky can't manage a laugh, but he smiles. “Give me your bag. What's Andy's ETA?”

  
  


“An hour and a half, probably less. You know how she is.”

  
  


“That I do.”

  
  


He distracts her by asking about their time in Marrakech and how much the city has changed since they last were there, long before he or Joe were born. It's lucky the new immortal emerged while they were between jobs.

Fifteen minutes later, Booker steps through the door. “Ciao, Nicky.” He crushes him in a hug, too, and ruffles his hair as though he were still a kid. “Joe?”

  
  


“At the supermarket. It will take a while.”

  
  


“Are you planning a welcome feast?” His smile dims a little and he doesn't leave him time to answer. “Have you been sleeping? You look...” He trails off, uncharacteristically unsure.

  
  


Nicky shrugs. “Not very well. It will pass, it's nothing.”

  
  


“Hey.” Booker's hand catches him by the shoulder. “You know you've nothing to worry about from the new one? Or...” He trails off again, though Nicky knows what he wants to ask. Well, not wants, really, but feels he must: he's wondering whether this is the proverbial last straw, if Nicky and Joe are starting to resent them and their immortality, if this is where they grow to envy and hate them.

As if they didn't owe everything to him, Quýnh and Andy. As if they hadn't been a family for 26 years... but it's a painful thought now, so Nicky pushes it away and forces himself to smile. “We know, oncle. We aren't worried about her.” This he can say with absolute truthfulness. “Andy's on her way. She should be here soon.”

  
  


“I know, Quýnh texted me when they landed. There's still some time, why don't you go and take a nap? I'll wake you up before they arrive.”

  
  


Nicky shakes his head. “No, thanks. I'll sleep when Joe comes back.” A bit too close to the truth, that.

  
  


Quýnh comes in right then, back from the bell tower. “Hey Booker!”

  
  


“Hi Quýnh. News from Andy? What did she say about the new one?”

  
  


“The new one stabbed her.” She sounds proud already. “She said, and I quote, that she thinks she has potential.”

  
  


Nicky lets out a low whistle. This is good, very good.

  
  


“Wow. That's... that's really impressive. How...” Booker shakes his head and turns to grab his bag. “Let me put this away, then...”

  
  


Nicky grabs it first. “I got it. Don't worry about it.”

  
  


“Thanks, Nicky.” He moves to the table with Quýnh, frowning. “She is a Marine, which probably means trouble, and there's her family to consider, too...”

  
  


Quýnh nods. “Do you want to talk to her? Or would you rather leave it to me and Andromache?”

  
  


Nicky lets them talk, puttering about in the kitchen. He's checking his phone too often, he knows he is, but Booker and Quýnh are too busy to notice.

  
  


Finally, Andy and the new one – Nile, Nile Freeman – arrive. Nicky hangs back during the round of introductions, watching them. Nile looks tired and still a bit shell-shocked. It's still his best bet.

  
  


Booker unexpectedly gives him the opening he needs. “Joe isn't here, but he'll be back soon, right, Nicky?”

  
  


Nicky wets his lips. “Speaking of Joe, I've got something to show you.” He pushes his phone in Andy's hands, Booker and Quýnh immediately moving next to her. Nile stays a little to the side, a look of polite interest on her face.

  
  


“What is it?” Quýnh teases him, smiling. “Another poem?”

  
  


Then the video starts playing. “What the...Booker, you were run over by a car?!”

  
  


“Port Elizabeth, in March,” Booker whispers, swallowing hard. “Merde!”

  
  


Nicky has to hand it to Copley: his equipment was first rate. Even at night, the footage is incredibly clear – Booker's bones resetting, his pupils returning to normal size, even his first breath, it's all captured in perfect detail.

“I know your friends' secret,” Copley's voice announces, cold and flat, as the video transitions to pictures – Andy in the American Civil War, Quýnh in Vienna at the turn of the last century, Andy and Quýnh in the French Resistance, in Vietnam, at the fall of the Berlin Wall. “There's no use denying it. They are immortal. But _he_ isn't.” Joe tied to a chair, his mouth taped shut, glaring furiously at the camera as he blinks and blinks. “If you want him to stay alive, you'll do exactly as I tell you. We'll be in touch.”

  
  


“Nicky...” Andy begins to say, lowering his phone, but he can't let her go any further, can't give her more time. He has already got his USP Compact in hand.

  
  


“I'm sorry.” He pulls the trigger.

  
  


Two shots to the head and Andy goes down, then Quýnh, half-turned towards him, then Booker. He hates that Booker has to be last, but it can't be helped, he knew he would be the slowest to react to his betrayal.

  
  


Nile Freeman is not slow at all – she rushes at him, tries to disarm him, but she's only a Marine and he was trained by Andromache the Scythian and Quýnh of the Red River Valley. More than that, their lives are on the line and he doesn't have time to waste.

One arm and both legs broken, a bullet to the stomach and she goes down. She grits her teeth, glaring up at him. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  
  


Oh, she is promising indeed. He wishes he and Joe could get to know her. “Whatever it takes.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

>  **ETA** : Estimated Time of Arrival
> 
> **Oncle:** uncle (French)
> 
> **Merde:** shit (French)
> 
> **USP Compact:** Heckler & Koch USP Compact (Remember the gun Nicky grabs when Nile's dream of Quýnh wakes them up in canon? That one.) Information curtesy of the Internet Movie Firearms Database. 
> 
> **The story** : this story will probably make more sense if you've read _With this wind blowing, and this tide_. In short, Yusuf is born in 1986 and Nicolò in 1989: orphaned, they are kidnapped (Joe) or sold (Nicky) to a pedophile who keeps them prisoner in his basement for about a year. Booker finds out of their existence during an undercover mission and immediately murders their jailer, but the man manages to stab him through the throat and the boys see him revive.  
> Neither Booker nor Andy and Quýnh planned to keep them, but first the boys were sick, then they couldn't find living relatives to take them in, one thing lead to another... they grew attached and decided to raise them themselves, not trusting the world at large.  
> They hadn't meant to raise them to follow their footsteps, either, but it happened.  
> Joe and Nicky got together when Nicky was 17 - Booker initially did not take it well, assuming they should see each other more as brothers, but he came around.  
> He wasn't exactly happy about letting them join the team one year later, and neither were Andy and Quýnh, but they realized that Joe and Nicky would do it with or without them: if it was with them, there was a chance to keep them safe until they got too old for field jobs.
> 
> In both universes, Copley can't get any of the team to answer his calls. His proof this time is not a fake mission to South Sudan, but a hit and run on Booker in Port Elizabeth, which both Nicky and Joe witnessed. Andy and Quýnh hadn't joined them yet and weren't told simply because all three men thought it was nothing more than an accident.


End file.
